Aronson and Larson made an agreement that if the show went to Broadway, Aronson would share in the proceeds and be given credit for 'original concept & additional lyrics'. Larson had ambitious expectations for Rent his ultimate dream was to write a rock opera 'to bring musical theater to the MTV generation'. In 1991, he asked Aronson if he could use Aronson's original concept and make Rent his own. He also came up with the show's ultimate title (a decision that Aronson was unhappy with, at least until Larson pointed out that 'rent' also means torn apart). Larson suggested setting the play 'amid poverty, homelessness, spunky gay life, drag queens and punk' in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, which happened to be down the street from his Greenwich Village apartment. In 1988, playwright Billy Aronson wanted to create 'a musical based on Puccini's La Bohème, in which the luscious splendor of Puccini's world would be replaced with the coarseness and noise of modern New York.' In 1989, Jonathan Larson, a 29-year-old composer, began collaborating with Aronson on this project, and the two composed together 'Santa Fe', 'Splatter' (later re-worked into the song 'Rent'), and 'I Should Tell You'. In 2005, it was adapted into a motion picture featuring most of the original cast members. The success of the show led to several national tours and numerous foreign productions. The production grossed over $280 million.

The Broadway production closed on September 7, 2008, after 12 years, making it one of the longest-running shows on Broadway. On Broadway, Rent gained critical acclaim and won several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical moved to Broadway's larger Nederlander Theatre on April 29, 1996.

The show's creator, Jonathan Larson, died suddenly of an aortic dissection, believed to have been caused by undiagnosed Marfan syndrome, the night before the off-Broadway premiere. This same off-Broadway theatre was also the musical's initial home following its official 1996 opening. The musical was first seen in a workshop production at New York Theatre Workshop in 1993. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village in the thriving days of bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. Rent is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson, loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera La Bohème.

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics.

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical.

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical.

Rent by jonathan larson